jumpleadsfandomcom-20200214-history
The Cult of Meaney
The Cult of Meaney is the ninth issues of Jump Leads. Plot The cover of the issue appears to show the Flurry appearing in front of a control team of sorts. It is then very quickly revealed to be a group of tribesmen wearing fruit fashioned in the style of helmets with microphones, all of whom seem to be alarmingly well-versed in Lead technical jargon. They appear to be in the midst of a "pre-landing sequence", which to their surprise actually works when the Flurry appears - crushing the wooden landing platform they'd built - and Meaney and Llewellyn step out. Both characters express confusion as to how the tribesmen seem aware enough of Lead technology to build facsimiles, and Llewellyn's attention is drawn to a nearby cave with a signpost outside reading "Control". When he attempts to enter he walks face-first into a forcefield. The Head Tribesman attempts to show Meaney and Llewellyn some of their history, including crude diagrams of Leads arriving in JumpShips. Llewellyn expresses frustration at the tribesmen for believing that their fake wooden equipment would work, and at Meaney for seemingly going along with it. It is then Meaney makes his deduction - they've discovered a Cargo Cult. JumpShips would use this universe to store (and, presumably, replicate) equipment, which they would retrieve later. The tribe, believing that the machinery was used to summon the Leads, reproduced their own. Llewellyn expresses interest in investigating the cave protected by a forcefield, and they note several severed limbs and damaged equipment. They also notice daylight coming from the back of the cave, and decide to climb over the top looking for a rear entrance. They find one, and the first thing they see is the charred, wrecked remains of a Deadly Deadly Robot. They don't comment on it. The pair decide to jump out just as the tribesmen finish their "ceremony", thus making it seem that their actions had worked a second time (as Meaney puts it, "I think they'd like that.") but when the Lead Tribesman mentions entering "Hub coordinates" Meaney suddenly becomes curious and asks them to show him what they did. Llewellyn uses this opportunity to sneakl back to the cave, where he accidentally crushes the skeletal remains of a Lead, deactivates the forcefield, and retrieves some "stuff" that he says could be useful, including a battery and some documents marked "JUMP SHIPS". Finally, the pair leave before the tribesmen finish their encantations. Appearances Characters * Meaney * Llewellyn * Cargo Cult * Captain Lucas (appears in drawing) Technology * Flurry * Dampening matrix (Wooden facsimile) * Dimension field (Wooden facsimile) * Forcefield * Deadly Deadly Robot (Derelict) * Battery Extra Continuity * This is the fifth Jump Leads story in a row (and the third full-length story) that opens in a natural environment such as a forest or jungle. * The fruit-based helmets and equipment worn by the Cargo Cult don't match any equipment worn by the Lead occupying Bay 17 in Training Day, although as the Lead Service appear to have been long gone upon Meaney and Llewellyn's arrival it's possible they have based their equipment on older versions. * The leaf drawing on Page 6 of the story appears to depict Captain Lucas,m or at the very least someone with the same mustache. * Meaney and Llewellyn said nothing of the burnt-out Deadly Deadly Robot they saw in the cave. An identical robot killed the aforementioned Captain Lucas back in #1: Training Day. Cultural References Trivia * Shrewd readers figured out that the tribe was a Cargo Cult at the very start. Meaney didn't make the deduction until page 10. * Page 15 is the first full-page panel in Jump Leads ever. External links *[http://www.jump-leads.com/comic/201 The Cult of Meaney at Jump-Leads.com] Category:Comic issues